High Triglycerides Diet Food List
Maintaining normal triglyceride levels in the bloodstream is critical. Regardless, many people do not know the role triglycerides play in the body or even what they are.
Lifestyle changes and diet are the two leading causes of high triglycerides in the body. Others are certain medications and genetics.
Experts in nutrition and health say that changing your lifestyle, and what you eat can lower triglycerides.
We have compiled a list of triglyceride-lowering foods, many of them being whole nutrient-dense foods.
Cholesterol And Healthy Eating
What we eat has an impact on our cholesterol levels and can help reduce our risk of disease. The Heart Foundation recommends following a heart-healthy eating pattern, which means eating a wide variety of fresh and unprocessed foods and limiting highly processed foods including take away, baked goods, chocolate, chips, lollies and sugary drinks. Not only does this help to maintain a healthy and interesting diet, but it provides essential nutrients to the body.
A heart-healthy eating pattern includes:
- plenty of vegetables, fruit and wholegrains
- a variety of healthy protein-rich foods , legumes , nuts and seeds. Smaller amounts of eggs and lean poultry can also be included in a heart-healthy eating pattern. If choosing red meat, make sure it is lean and limit to one to three times a week
- unflavoured milk, yoghurt and cheese. People with high cholesterol should choose reduced fat varieties
- healthy fats and oils. Choose nuts, seeds, avocados, olives and their oils for cooking
- herbs and spices to flavour foods, instead of adding salt.
This way of eating is also naturally high in fibre, which is good news, because a high intake of dietary fibre can also reduce levels of bad cholesterol in the blood.
Also, be mindful of how much you are eating. Portion sizes have increased over time and many of us are eating more than we need which can increase our cholesterol and risk of heart disease.
Serving size can vary depending on age, gender and specific nutrition needs.
High Triglycerides Diet: Guidelines And Meal Plans
Disclaimer: Results are not guaranteed*** and may vary from person to person***.
When it comes to heart health, a lot of what we hear about focuses on cholesterol and how that can affect your health. What often gets forgotten, however, is high triglycerides. There is plenty of evidence to show that high triglycerides levels can be a significantly bad thing for your hearts health. In this article, we will take a look at what exactly are high triglycerides levels, which foods to add to your high triglycerides diet, which foods to avoid, and even a high triglycerides diet plan to start you on your way to better heart health. Think of this as a beginners guide to everything about high triglycerides.
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How To Know If Your Triglyceride Levels Are Optimal
All you have to do is set up an appointment with your doctor to get a standard blood test done. Ask your doctor to print the results for you, and track your progress at after appointment.
According to the American Heart Association, these are the triglyceride level ranges:
| Optimal | |
| Very high | 500 mg/dL or higher |
Aim for optimal triglyceride levels, but dont forget about cholesterol and blood sugar levels as well.
To see if you have healthier cholesterol levels, check your total-to-HDL cholesterol ratio. A ratio between 3 and 4 indicates that you have healthy cholesterol levels and are at a substantially reduced risk of heart disease. When it comes to blood sugar, your fasting blood sugar levels should be below 100 mg/dl.
It is also important to take note of your posture before you get your blood drawn. For example, different positions, like sitting, standing, and laying down, can cause triglycerides to vary significantly. Because of this, the American Heart Association recommends that you sit for at least 5 minutes in the same position each time you get your blood drawn to minimize variability in triglyceride measurements.
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What Dash Can Do For You
The DASH Diet can help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which is good for your heart. In fact, DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or high blood pressure. Even if you donât have high blood pressure, the DASH Diet is worth a look. It may help you lose weight because itâs a healthier way of eating. You wonât feel deprived. Youâll have lots of vegetables, fruits, and low-fat dairy products while cutting back on fats, cholesterol, and sweets.
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What About The Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet is an eating plan that improves cholesterol and lowers your risk of dying early. A big change for most people is to use olive oil instead of other fats and oils. Other parts of the Mediterranean diet include:
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Eating less red meat, dairy products, eggs, and poultry
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Eating more fish, tree nuts, vegetables, and whole grains
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Drinking wine in moderation.
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What Not To Eat: Foods That Raise Cholesterol
Whether you have high cholesterol that needs to be lowered or you simply want to maintain an already-healthy cholesterol level, avoiding certain foods can help.
Any food that contains saturated fat is a no-no for a cholesterol-lowering diet. Trans fats are equally as bad, if not worse. Trans fats are a double whammy they raise LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol, Featherstun says.
Here are some specific types of food to avoid:
Anything fried Youd be hard-pressed to walk into a restaurant in the United States and not find a deep fryer. But if youre on a cholesterol-lowering diet, take a pass on the greasy stuff. Not only does deep frying cause foods to lose water and suck up fat, making them more calorie dense, but the oils that foods are fried in are often high in trans fats, the worst offenders.
If you cant bear the thought of never eating another crunchy onion ring, consider using olive or sunflower oil when frying. In a study published in January 2012 in The BMJ, researchers in Spain, where olive and sunflower oils are used for frying, found that eating fried foods was not associated with increased rates of heart disease like it is in countries where saturated fats, like lard and butter, are used. Just be sure not to heat these oils past their smoke point the temperature at which an oil starts to burn.
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Stop Smoking To Lower Cholesterol
The ADA recommends if you smoke to quit to improve diabetes management. Quitting smoking can also improve your overall health and reduce your risk of cancer.
There are numerous programs, support systems, and medications available to help you quit smoking. Studies show it might take a few tries to quit your smoking habit for good. Not smoking when you have diabetes can help you reduce your risks of cardiovascular disease and other diabetes complications.
When Are Triglyceride Levels Measured
Triglyceride levels are usually measured whenever you have a blood test called a Lipid Profile. Everyone over age 20 should have their cholesterol checked at least every 5 years. Your healthcare provider can check your cholesterol and triglyceride levels by taking a sample of blood, which is sent to a lab for testing. The Lipid Profile shows your triglyceride level, total cholesterol level, HDL cholesterol and LDL levels.
Blood triglyceride levels are normally high after you eat. Therefore, you should wait 12 hours after eating or drinking before you have your triglyceride levels tested. Many other factors affect blood triglyceride levels, including alcohol, diet, menstrual cycle, time of day and recent exercise.
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Busy Lifestyles Are The Most Common Reasons For High Cholesterol And Triglyceride Levels
If you are like me and like to pack your day full of activities or if you are simply trying to balance a work and home life, watching your diet is often the last thing on your mind.
Therefore, making a healthy meal for yourself and even the family is often impossible. Processed and other fast foods are often high in the fats associated with increasing cholesterol and triglycerides.
To try and tackle this problem, I have started doing a simple menu plan. That is deciding for the week what foods will best suit my cholesterol and triglyceride lowering diet and ensuring I have the ingredients ready to go.
The idea of creating a menu plan is, the days you know you are going to be pressed for time you and organise a simple meal that is still healthy. The meals that require more preparation or cooking time, I save for the days I know I can commit the time.
- Day one Poached salmon, new potatoes and carrots
- Day two Pasta with tomato and basil sauce
- Day three Vegetable curry with rice
- Day four Chicken salad
- Day five Mackerel, rice and poached eggs
The weekend I would leave to chance, although I do treat myself to a small Chinese takeaway and a half-a-glass of red wine on a Saturday evening.
Sample Meal Plan For High Cholesterol
- Breakfast: 2 slices whole-wheat toast topped with 1/2 a mashed avocado, sprinkled with salt and pepper
- Lunch: Tuna salad wrap: 3 oz. tuna, 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, 1/2 cup chopped apples, and 1 tablespoon pecan pieces in a whole wheat tortilla 1 small package baked chips green salad: 2 cups fresh spinach, 1/4 cup grated carrots, 1 tablespoon olive oil-based dressing
- Snack: 2 graham crackers with 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- Dinner: Grain bowl: 1.5 cups cooked quinoa, 1/2 cup chickpeas, 1.5 cups roasted broccoli, carrots, and red onion blend, olive oil and lemon juice to taste
- Dessert: Yogurt parfait: 1 cup 2% Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries, 2 tablespoon granola, and a drizzle of honey
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What To Look Out For When Shopping For Foods To Lower Cholesterol:
When grocery shopping, there are foods youâll want to focus on and foods to avoid to lower your cholesterol. To lower your cholesterol, focus on foods high in fiber like canned or dried beans or lentils, fruits and vegetables , as well as whole grains like quinoa, oatmeal, brown rice and whole-wheat bread. Other healthy options to focus on include those foods high in unsaturated fats like nuts and seedsincluding chia and flax, as well as olive oil, avocado and foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon. These healthy fats help raise your good HDL cholesterol which protects your heart. Some other foods you can eat that may surprise youeggs and shrimp. Although traditionally avoided because theyâre high in dietary cholesterol, thereâs not a lot of evidence that cholesterol in foods actually raises our bodyâs cholesterol, so feel free to include these foods in your healthy diet plan.
To identify trans fats, look at the ingredient list and try to avoid foods that say âhydrogenatedâ or âpartially hydrogenated fats.â Youâll often find them in processed foods, especially processed baked goods, as well as some peanut butters, so try to opt for a natural peanut butter that contains just two ingredients: peanuts and salt.
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Let The Healthy Eating Begin
So now I am more confident when it comes to following a cholesterol and triglyceride lowering diet, I can concentrate on introducing other positive changes into my life such as exercise. I will always have to watch what I eat, reducing cholesterol and then maintaining it is not something you do once and that is it.
But, so far I am enjoying learning how to eat healthier and, hopefully, prolong my good health too.
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Health Conditions Related To Triglycerides And Cholesterol
High blood lipid levels may increase your risk for plaques to develop in your arteries or thicken the walls of your arteries .
Other health conditions related to high triglycerides or cholesterol include:
- High blood sugar levels or diabetes
- Metabolic syndromea cluster of conditions that increase your risk for heart disease
- Genetic conditions
Skip High Sugar High Fat Beans
Beans are great sources of fiber and other nutrients, but if they are loaded with sugar or have pork, pick another version. Choose black beans without sugar. They are high in protein and fiber and do not have saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends those who have high triglycerides limit their intake of saturated fat, added sugar, and salt and increase their intake of whole grains, fruits, lean meats, legumes, fat-free or low-fat dairy, seafood, poultry, nuts, and non-starchy vegetables. This helps lower triglycerides and reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, fatty liver disease, and diabetes. Eating this way provides your body with vitamins and nutrition to support optimal health.
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Foods To Lower Triglycerides
Why Do Vegans Have High Triglycerides
There are many reasons why vegans have high triglycerides, but if youre looking for a specific explanation, you might want to take a look at how youre treating your body. Maybe youre not getting enough rest, or not eating the right kinds of foods, or youre not drinking enough water. Whatever the cause, make sure youre taking the right steps to treat your body right.
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The Bottom Line About Cholesterol And The Keto Diet
Cholesterol is essential to key processes in your body.
Low-carb, high-fat diets such as the ketogenic diet, increase the concentrations of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol when compared against standard high-carb diets.
Carbohydrate restriction in healthy individuals leads to higher levels of HDL cholesterol.
Low-carb, high-fat diets generally decrease LDL particle concentration and increase the size of LDL cholesterol, which is beneficial for cardiovascular health.
Dangerous VLDL cholesterol concentrations in the blood decrease with a ketogenic diet.
Improvement in the total LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio has been demonstrated when dietary carbohydrates are replaced with fat.
When we weigh all the evidence, the benefits of low carb diets on our cholesterol levels greatly outweigh the negatives for most people.
However, some people may need to adjust their diets in order to meet optimal cholesterol levels. If you have a genetic predisposition, or a history of elevated cholesterol levels or heart issues, please undertake low carb diets with the supervision of your doctor.
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Enjoy Some But Not Too Much Fruit
Fruit is part of a healthy diet, but too much fruit may hinder your ability to lower your triglycerides. Fruits contain varying amounts of fructose, a type of monosaccharide found in some foods. People who have high triglycerides should limit their intake of fructose to no more than 50 to 100 grams per day. Excess fructose increases triglycerides. Eat 2 to 3 servings of fruit per day. Dried fruits, like raisins, are high in fructose. Have no more than 2 tablespoons per day. Dates, raisins, figs, and dried apricots are high in fructose.
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Aspects Of Cholesterol Problems
In and of itself, cholesterol is not a bad thing: It’s present in every cell in the body and does a lot of goodsupporting the production of hormones, digestion, and converting sunlight into vitamin D. Approximately 75 percent of the cholesterol present in the blood is produced by the liver, but the rest is derived from the diet, which is why making dietary changes is an effective way to keep cholesterol levels healthy.
There are two types of cholesterol:
- Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is regarded as “bad cholesterol.” It’s the soft, waxy stuff that can accumulate in the bloodstream and interfere with the flow of blood.
- High-density lipoprotein the so-called “good cholesterol”helps keep blood vessels clear by carrying LDL cholesterol to the liver for disposal.
In addition to cholesterol, the levels of triglycerides in the body are important to heart health and so usually are considered a key aspect of a person’s overall blood cholesterol “profile.”
| Cholesterol Level Guidelines for Adults 20 and Older |
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| Type |